I am so so happy that I got over the worst part of my cold and was feeling well enough to be a part of Menalie’s birth last night.

Please bear with me as I am crying my eyes out typing this. 🙂 Oh and please forgive me that this post will be in English only. (Too much to type! lol)

Eve and I met at church. She quickly became one of our kids’ favorite babysitters and a good friend of mine. I love her. I watched her marry the man who captured her heart and prayed for her and Robert when they were struggling to have a baby. Well, God is great! He really is. He blesses us with so many wonderful things in life and one the greatest ones is children. Just look how beautiful and happy she looked while pregnant. 🙂

When I got sick last weekend I was worried that I might miss the delivery. So I prayed that either a) Melanie would just plain old wait for me (yeah right…haha) or b) I would get past the worst so that in case Eve would go into labor I could still be a part of it.
Eve’s husband is active duty military and is currently deployed so it was extremely important to me to document this labor and delivery! And thankfully my prayers were answered. Although i am not 100% well I was well enough to be around a newborn child.

So when Eve’s mother called me yesterday, while I was vacuuming, making sure the kids were doing their chores and homework for school, oh and did I mention I had potatoes cooking on the stove to make mashed potatoes with for dinner? Yeah, well… it was a typical afternoon for me as you can see. Anyways, I got the message and immediately checked with Craig. I stopped dinner preparations (we are eating those taters tonight!) got my gear and kids and headed to Norman to do a quick drop-off with the hubby. I made it to the delivery room shortly after her water broke. She was already having contractions that were minutes or so apart and she was in great pain. After a little while she decided to go for an epidural. (My kind of girl. 😉 I admire all you moms out there who can do this naturally… I am just not one of you. lol) And as you can see from the pictures, it brought about a very pleasant change in Eve’s labor as well. We laughed and cheered and waited. It was important for Eve that Melanie was born on February 1st. I mean, who want’s a Groundhog baby? Melanie heard her Mama’s please and the hard part began around 10:55pm. Now, the doc didn’t show up until 11:50 and we were all getting worried that she might not make it in time. But, hey…. that’s why we deal with absolute professionals when it comes to these things. Remember how I said the doc didn’t show up until 11:50? Well, just 1 minute later…. Melanie was born! 🙂 And that moment… where Eve laid her eyes on her baby girl, whom she had been patiently waiting for to finally see…. WOW! It was AMAZING! I feel lucky that I was able to be in that room last night. Lucky to have Eve as my friend.

And Robert, thank you for your service. Thank you for all you do for you country and most importantly your family! I know they love you and miss you very much. Come home safe!

To all you mommy-to-be’s out there…. no matter what city you are in… find yourself a professional photographer to come and document the labor and delivery of your new baby. We forget so quickly and with pictures you will always be able to go back to that time. To remember those moments and the joy and love that come with it.

This is to you Melanie. May your life be filled with many beautiful blessings.

This is the very first time for Eve to see Melanie. The wait and anticipation is finally over!!

And I am so happy that even Daddy got to be there via satellite phone to say hi to his precious baby girl.

Oh, and for those of you who are wondering … Melanie was 7lbs and 19inches. 🙂

Achives

My full name is Benita Rebekka (yes, with a double "K") Cloward. I love nicknames and have quite a few: Becky, Bex, Beni, Bita, Schneckolita, RBJ, ... I really do love a good nickname!

Born and raised in Germany I fell in love with a US soldier during my last year of High School. From Germany where we married, we moved to Oregon, Connecticut, Oklahoma and now reside in Missouri. We have three incredible children who keep me on my toes and teach me something new every day.

I am grateful that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with many talents. Especially though the craft to see and capture beauty and life through photography. Where it was first a means to share my life in the US with my family and friends back in Germany, it has become my passion and career. I am so very blessed to travel around the world capturing His Beauty. My work has been featured and published internationally on various blogs, websites, in magazines and books.